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Socialist Alliance (England)

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The Socialist Alliance was an electoral alliance of political parties in England from 1999 to 2005.[1]

The alliance was formed in the 1990s[2] by former Labour MP Dave Nellist of the Socialist Party, who chaired the alliance.[1] They stood in the 1999 European Parliament election,[3] including former Labour MEPs Ken Coates and Hugh Kerr.[4] The 2000 London mayoral election campaign by Ken Livingstone after his Labour candidacy was blocked brought together activists as the London Socialist Alliance. Their London Assembly candidates received 3% of the vote, but the campaign drove national interest.[2][5][6][7] By 2001 the alliance was supported by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee), the International Socialist Group,[1] Workers Liberty, Workers Power, and Revolutionary Democratic Group, though the Socialist Labour Party refused to join.[2] They were supported by left-wing representatives of the arts, comedians, lawyers, and trade unions.[2] In February 2001, the alliance co-organised a week-long protest outside Parliament against sanctions on Iraq.[8]

Former Labour NEC member Liz Davies joined during the 2001 election campaign.[9] It stood 98 candidates in the 2001 general election,[1][10] for which Ken Loach directed a party broadcast,[11][12] polling around 500 votes or less than 2% on average.[2][13] Candidates included China Miéville[14] and national executive member Mike Marqusee co-wrote the manifesto.[15] That September, the Green Party conference voted down a motion for a pact with the alliance.[16] In 2002, Paul Foot came third for the alliance in the vote for the Mayor of Hackney.[17][18] The same year, Nellist successfully defended his Sheffield City Council seat for the alliance.[19]

The Socialist Party left the alliance in November 2001 after the SWP successfully changed the constitution from a federal system to One Member, One Vote.[20] In 2003, the AWL and Workers Power also withdrew due to the SWP making concessions towards Islam and attempting a closer relationship with the Muslim Association of Britain.[21]

Following the Iraq War of 2003, the SWP voted to dissolve the alliance and instead joining the Respect - The Unity Coalition. Nellist last stood for the Socialist Alliance in 2005.[1]

Members

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cole, Matt; Deighan, Helen (2012). Political Parties in Britain. Edinburgh University Press. p. 193. ISBN 9780748669035.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Turner, Alwyn (2021). "2. Left and Right". All In It Together: England in the Early 21st Century. Profile. ISBN 9781782837862.
  3. ↑ "Socialist Alliance". BBC News. 26 May 1999.
  4. ↑ "Socialist challenge to New Labour". BBC News. 15 March 1999.
  5. ↑ "New success for London Socialist Alliance". Green Left. Australia. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 15 February 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. ↑ "London Socialist Alliance". Red Action. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  7. ↑ Osler, Dave (2000). "Smaller Goldfish, Bigger Bowl: Prospects for the London Socialist Alliance". What Next.
  8. ↑ "Protesters seek to end Iraqi sanctions". BBC News. 22 February 2001.
  9. ↑ Ward, Lucy (24 March 2001). "Activist quits Labour for Socialist Alliance". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "Socialist Alliance". BBC News. 25 May 2001.
  11. ↑ "Loach to shoot election film". BBC News. 27 March 2001.
  12. ↑ Tempest, Matthew (27 March 2001). "Loach to direct Socialist Alliance campaign broadcast". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ Younge, Gary (11 June 2001). "From the margins". The Guardian.
  14. ↑ Clancy, Olive (5 June 2001). "Sci-fi writer gets political". BBC News.
  15. ↑ Curran, Sean (6 June 2001). "The Socialist Alliance quizzed". BBC News.
  16. ↑ Tempest, Matthew (18 September 2001). "Greens reject pact with Socialist Alliance". The Guardian.
  17. ↑ "Veteran journalist Paul Foot dies". BBC News. 19 July 2004.
  18. ↑ Tempest, Matthew (29 July 2002). "Foot to stand for Hackney mayor". The Guardian.
  19. ↑ Woolf, Marie (4 May 2002). "Single-issue candidates in shock victories". The Independent.
  20. ↑ Keith, Daniel; March, Luke (2023). "The United Kingdom". The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Left Parties in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 543. ISBN 9781137562647.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kelly, John (14 March 2018). Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain. London: Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 9781315671048.
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